Talk:Isolation
So this talk is tied closely with my Villainous Empowerment Talk. Isolation seems to be a little bit better-worded to make more sense with the rules of the game. But I'm still not 100% certain on its precise action in the game. Does Isolation effect only allies in play? What about discard pile, banized zone, hand, or life deck? Does Isolation only effect powers, or does it also effect continuous effects (or constant powers), like Frieza, Mastermind or Nappa, Space Traveler? Does Isolation prevent your opponent from using Trunks, Bashful's ability when enterting combat (when you control Isolation and opponent controls Trunks, Bashful). What happens if I use Overpowering Attack in the same combat that Isolation was used, can the ally that is found use its effects? In Magic, this card would only effect cards that were in play at the time of being used, so that's my current stance on the ruling. It makes sense to me because of my explanation in the Villainous Empowerment Talk linked above. I know I'm asking difficult questions, but without these kinds of things being ruled out while this game is young, you can lose a lot of people due to lack of professional design. Thanks again, guys. DB Response Given Isolation's wording if an Ally were created that had an effect that occurred from the discard pile I would say that it is effected by this card as it does not specifically reference in play. When a card references "power" in lower case they are referring to the main effect of the card. This would include any POWER, CONSTANT, INSTANT, or other power type. Isolation is referring to any and all powers or main effects of the cards and would cause Allies like Nappa, Space Traveler and Frieza, Mastermind to lose their abilities. Depending on timing Trunks, Bashful could lose his ability if your opponent declared combat and used Isolation in their "when entering combat" phase. Similar to Villainous Empowerment, the effect is considered "floating" to refer to an old mechanic from the old game. This card is better worded with the "end of combat" and not "this combat." This specifically denotes the duration of the effect. Given the duration of the effect, an Ally or Drill brought into play via any other means, including Overpowering Attack, would not have an effect per the card. As the card does not indicate the zone, given old game precedents again, it would apply to all zones not just those in play. These questions are not too difficult if one uses precedents set in the old game. The issue is that many of those precedents have not been written into the rules of the new game which is where there are issues. Also the reason I set out to make this site to begin with since there are a lot of outstanding questions like these. Again, James will hopefully chime in to confirm or give you his perspective, but a large portion of the current rulings are based on the old game given no official response. Hope this helps! DerekBuhr (talk) 23:58, May 2, 2015 (UTC) James Response Similar to Villianous Empowerment, Isolation will cause allies that are played later in combat to lose their effects (only for the duration of that combat). Technically it only affects cards that are in play, but it is important to note that the blanket "allies lose effects" is in place for that combat and not specifically targeting the allies that are currently in play. Looking at this through an MtG lens will bring you to the wrong conclusion. Another way to word this is: Yes, Isolation only affects allies that are in play. However, it will affect any allies that come into play that combat as well. As far as I know, there have never been any ally powers that activate from the discard pile, and the game engine doesn't really support ally powers that would be active from the discard pile. However, if we do see an ally whose power is used from the discard pile, I would think Isolation would prevent that power from being used. Isolation affects all powers (including Constant ones). Isolation vs. Trunks: It depends on who is declaring combat. The attacker uses his "when entering combat" effects before the defender. Let's say you both have Trunks in play and you will be using Isolation. If you are entering combat, you can use Trunks, then Isolation, then when your opponent uses his "when entering combat" effects, he cannot use Trunks. If your opponent enters combat, he can use Trunks, and then you can later use Trunks and Isolation. If you pull out an ally with Overpowering Attack, Isolation's effect will be affecting it that combat. I think the reason for the different wording between Villainous Empowerment ("X cannot be used") and Isolation ("Y and Z lose all effects") is that you could still technically "use" a setup that has no effects. It would consume your action, none of the setup's effects would occur, and then the setup would be discarded. Strategically this can make sense if you don't want to make any other actions in that particular round of combat, but you also don't want to pass (potentially letting your opponent end combat by passing), and the value of that tempo/information is worth sacrificing one of your setups in play. Let us know if you have any other related questions. I hope this helps! JamesStadtmiller (talk) 19:20, May 6, 2015 (UTC)